On a mobile phone call from Kampala, his voice tinged with emotions, Kaizer Chiefs’ legend David Obua revealed how Manchester United’s newly-appointed first-team coach Benni McCarthy helped kick-start the Ugandan’s coaching career.
It was around 2015 when Obua had called it time on his largely fullfiling playing career that took him from Uganda to the United States, back to Kampala, off to Mauritius, South Africa then Scotland before it ran its course.
With his trophy cabinet filled to the brim with silverware won across the five countries and three continents, the former Chiefs left-back was faced with the inevitable switch into a coaching career.
However, the more he dreamt of venturing into the dugout, the more he struggled to answer the relevant question of how?
He had heard about the great Irish Football Federation coaching education that had produced great coaches in planet football, but the former Cranes man simply did not have the connections to enroll there.
Using the contacts from his earlier encounter with McCathy in Scotland where the Ugandan used to play for Hearts FC, he reached out to the Bafana Bafana legend seeking his help to link him with the Irish FA in order to enrol for a coaching course.
It did not take long before McCarthy oiled the deal and very soon Obua found himself in coaching class at the Irish FA.
It is for this reason that even now the Ugandan will never forget the former AmaZulu’s mentor’s help.
“I did my coaching badges in Ireland. I thank those people so much in Ireland, especially Nigel [Best], the guy who runs coaching courses at the Irish Football Federation. Benni is the one who helped get to that course,” the former Cranes star tells FARPost.
“Benni has always been such a great guy and I thank him so much because he helped me get to Nigel. I call it a great coaching school because the insight they give you is indept…I did my UEFA B-Licence then finished my UEFA A-Licence. When Covid-19 came, I was supposed to go and do my assessment.”
Obua is not surprised that the Bafana Bafana all-time leading scorer is carving out an equally impressive coaching career following stints with Cape Town City and until last year, at AmaZulu.
“I have followed very many games of his [coaching]…You can tell that he is extremely knowledgeable about the game. His teams have shown that his philosophy can be digested quickly,” he said.
“You saw AmaZulu were second in the league in South Africa a season ago and they went on to the CAF Champions League group stages, playing with a certain type of intensity. It showed that Benni is maturing as a coach. He is so knowledgeable about the game. You can see the way his players are applying his methodology.”
McCarthy’s exit from City then AmaZulu might be to do with his second season struggles that have always been evident in his coaching career.
However, you cannot rule out the fact that his straight-forward personality might have also contributed to the exits, according to Obua.
Benni, like Obua, are not the ones to shy away from calling a spade a spade especially when things are going wrong.
“It is very difficult for people who speak honestly like him. We both have the same mentality but, in our culture, if you speak with a certain type of conviction, you are deemed bad,” he said
Obua wound up his career in 2012 Scotland at Hearts where he had joined from Chiefs.
The Soweto giants’ pursuit of the Ugandan started after his impressive performances for the Cranes in their 2-1 loss to Bafana Bafana at FNB Stadium in a 2006 Africa/World Cup qualifier played on March 26 2005.
Obua capped his performance with a goal in between Quintone Fortune and Steven Piennar strikes for the hosts to grab the attention of potential suitors. Overall, Obua scored 110 goals in 337 appearances for Uganda.
Securing a move to Amakhosi was such a dream come true for Obua who played for Express FC in Uganda followed by stints in America and back home.
Somehow, Obua found himself playing for AS Port Louis FC in Mauritius after he had scored in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against the islanders.
He signed for Port Louis hoping that their Francophone connections would help him secure a move to the French Ligue 1. But it was not to be and when the offer from Chiefs came, Obua could not think twice.
Obua took to Chiefs like a duck to water, perfecting the art of defending and scoring thereby helping the Glamour Boys win the Absa Cup, SAA Supa 8 Cup in 2006 and Telkom Knockout Cup in 2008.
To cap it all, Obua scooped Chiefs Player of the Season award achievements which paved the way for his dream move to Hearts in 2008.
However, Obua struggled to adjust to life in Scotland at Hearts under manager Csaba Laszlo only for his fortunes to change for the better when Jim Jefferies took over the coaching mantle at the club.
The man who was born in a family of six children was still able to write his name in Hearts folklore most notably after he scored the clincher against Hibernian in the Edinburgh derby.
Three years later, Obua called it time on his playing career to venture into coaching back home in Uganda where he is the assistant coach at Uganda Premier League side, Maroons FC. Scaling heights that his mentor Benni is reaching is his ultimate goal.
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